Sony Ericsson, a 50/50 joint venture of Sony Corporation and Ericsson, was established in 2001 and is a provider of mobile multimedia devices, including mobile phones, accessories and PC cards. The company employs approximately 7,500 people worldwide. In 2006, volume and sales grew to 74.8 million units and EUR 10,959 million respectively.

There is a growing demand among customers for environmentally adapted products and services. To meet and exceed market expectations, Sony Ericsson aims to deliver solutions that help to reduce global resource consumption and emissions to air, land and water. The company has a Corporate Responsibility Code that applies to all Sony Ericsson operations as well as a Social Responsibility Code for its suppliers.

Sony Ericsson was the first in the mobile handset industry to phase out all brominated flame-retardants. Therefore it was well prepared to meet the requirements of the European Union legislation the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS), which took effect July, 2006. In 2006, all Sony Ericsson products manufactured were RoHS-compliant.

Brominated flame-retardants are important to eliminate, as they are persistent and bio-accumulative and can be hazardous to those recycling discarded phones.

Sony Ericsson made progress in 2006 towards eliminating polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in all its products, and as of 2007, all new phones and accessories will be PVC-free.

Sony Ericsson was the first mobile phone manufacturer with low-energy phone chargers and energy consumption continues to be a priority. It is working to reduce the amount of raw materials and components, since they consume most energy in phone manufacture.

The energy intensity of mobile phone manufacturing should also be seen in light of the increased functionality of advanced phones, which reduce the need for a user to have other electronic devices. An updated assessment of mobile phone manufacturing will be included in Ericsson's updated mobile system Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), scheduled for 2007.

Sony Ericsson is participating in existing voluntary and required collection and recycling schemes in many countries around the world. It also works together with international organizations such as the UN Environment Programme to set up guidelines for proper management of products for recycling and reuse.

From August 2005 the EU Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE ), requires organizations placing products on the market to organize and finance the collection and the recycling of end-of-life products.

Sony Ericsson complies with the national legislation resulting from the WEEE Directive by joining collection and recycling systems for disposed electrical and electronic products. Our preferred partner is the European Recycling Platform (ERP) which was established by Braun GmbH, Electrolux AB, Hewlett Packard Co. and Sony in December 2002 with the aim of creating the most efficient pan-European collection and recycling scheme for consumers, the environment and industry. In recognition that end users' behavior has a decisive impact on recycling, Sony Ericsson includes product declarations providing information about recycling.

All Sony Ericsson Phone models are designed and tested to meet relevant regulations and standards on Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) exposure. Sony Ericsson works closely with Ericsson on this topic and sponsors research together with the rest of the industry. Consumer information on EMF is provided with all new mobile phone models and is also available on the Sony Ericsson website.

In 2006, Sony Ericsson audited 20 percent of its supply chain in regards to the Supplier Social Responsibility Code. This included all major suppliers in Asia, considered a high-risk region for meeting social responsibility standards. The Code places expectations on suppliers to provide a safe workplace for employees, respect basic human rights, and apply proper ethical standards in all business dealings.

Sony Ericsson engages with suppliers to raise standards, so that they understand the importance of the Code and recognize it as a competitive advantage and part of their responsibility as an employer. In cases where there is insufficient willingness to make improvements, Sony Ericsson will take steps to end the relationship. In 2006, two potential suppliers were disqualified because they could not meet the Code. In 2006, Sony Ericsson and Ericsson cooperated in areas of supply chain management, the formation of a common auditors network, LCA, research and design. These types of partnerships in the value chain help both companies adopt a more holistic and all-encompassing approach to addressing the sector's social and environmental impact.